[Sterling Archer]

We haven’t gutted the squad at all, with loads of the dross still here – so all that hard talk last season about being ruthless was bollocks.

And the new signings aren’t going to push the needle. Maguire didn’t exactly lead a rickety looking back line today, while AWB was skinned time and again.

We have average players and a sub-par manager, so it stands to reason that we get average / sub-par results.

After the window shut in such disappointing fashion, I held to this hope that we'd see Chong, Gomes and Garner out there. Often. Especially a game like today at home. The entire forum expected to see this dross team sit deep against us. And Ole and his staff selected James and Lingard to start. Mata on the bench. Gomes not even in the lineup. And it played out exactly as we expected. It's not often I see the cafe so overwhelmingly correct about something like this.

And the more I think about it now, I'm feckin shocked Ole didn't watch last seasons match against Palace to prepare.

 

[RedAlways78]

I’m calling in sick next week.

Can’t be listening to more scouse propaganda

 

[Feed Me]

After the window shut in such disappointing fashion, I held to this hope that we'd see Chong, Gomes and Garner out there. Often. Especially a game like today at home. The entire forum expected to see this dross team sit deep against us. And Ole and his staff selected James and Lingard to start. Mata on the bench. Gomes not even in the lineup. And it played out exactly as we expected. It's not often I see the cafe so overwhelmingly correct about something like this.

And the more I think about it now, I'm feckin shocked Ole didn't watch last seasons match against Palace to prepare.

I’m with you.

Thing is, a lot of people will say we are overreacting

I just saw in another thread that we have lost nine of our last fifteen

What kind of feckery is this?

 

[Sterling Archer]

I’m with you.

Thing is, a lot of people will say we are overreacting

I just saw in another thread that we have lost nine of our last fifteen

What kind of feckery is this?

I'm also concerned with some of the drama on the field. Martial getting the ball and running it over to Rashford for the penalty. Maguire pushing aside Young to make Lindelof take the free kick. It is so so odd to me.

Feck me that's a dreadful statistic. It's Ole's bloody fault that. He oversaw the end of last season. One of his priorities this summer should have been strengthening our midfield to free up Pogba. Free-range Pogba saw us on a wonderful winning run and him hitting fantastic form. Likewise not replacing Herrera who was a consistent in that run and missing when we started to fall apart.. To drop Pogba deep again, play feckin Pereira ahead of him or Jesse today, it's not something I can excuse. Because yet another match his silly dallying on the ball sees us concede. That's not meant to be a slight on Paul, just have him play higher so does what he's good at and if he's losing the ball it's not suicidal.

 

[Feed Me]

I'm also concerned with some of the drama on the field. Martial getting the ball and running it over to Rashford for the penalty. Maguire pushing aside Young to make Lindelof take the free kick. It is so so odd to me.

Feck me that's a dreadful statistic. It's Ole's bloody fault that. He oversaw the end of last season. One of his priorities this summer should have been strengthening our midfield to free up Pogba. Free-range Pogba saw us on a wonderful winning run and him hitting fantastic form. Likewise not replacing Herrera who was a consistent in that run and missing when we started to fall apart.. To drop Pogba deep again, play feckin Pereira ahead of him or Jesse today, it's not something I can excuse. Because yet another match his silly dallying on the ball sees us concede. That's not meant to be a slight on Paul, just have him play higher so does what he's good at and if he's losing the ball it's not suicidal.

On your first paragraph, yeah I noticed those incidents too and it just adds to the idea that the squad is full of silly little cliques and not really singing from the same hymn sheet.

I also agree with your Pogba analysis, we are systematically blunting our best player due to a failure in midfield recruitment. He deserves to play in a better team than ours

 

[Dante]

I'm as disappointed as anyone. But I think it's wrong to say we've not made progress. We're miles better than during the LvG years, and making progress towards building a dominant side that controls the ball and presses high.

71.4% possession and 22 shots

That would never have happened under Mourinho.

Things are far from perfect, but I still believe we're heading in the right direction. I think the biggest problem is that Ole is trying to do too much at once.

The most evident thing today was that attacking players never quite knew what to do next. There's no chemistry there, because it hasn't been coached into them well enough. That's on both Ole and Jose. But what doesn't help is that Ole wants a fluid system. In an ideal world, that would be fantastic. However, when nobody has any idea what their teammates are going to do next, the swapping and changing makes it even harder to build an understanding in each area of the pitch.

It's the first time Martial has played CF in front of Rashford, Lingard and James. It's the first time Lingard has played #10 with any of them. It's the first time James has played for United at all. There are way too many unknown quantities trying to figure each other out.

Attacking shapes and attacking patterns are hugely important in football. There's none of that at United right now. The only part of the pitch where we had any shape in the last 2 years was with the triumvirate of Shaw-Pogba-Martial on the left pushing up as one. That's gone and nothing has replaced it.

I broadly agreed with Ole's transfer strategy of not wanting to change too much in a single window. But he's only gone and undermined that by rejigging his existing squad so much that they've become total strangers to each other anyway.

 

[FootballHQ]

Aside from his goal, I thought Ayew was brilliant.

I've been a fan of his since he came to England. Considering our depth in attack, id like him here. He's so good at shielding the ball under pressure.

Funny player, bit of an odd mentality at play. When he wants to play well he's a very good second striker, can chip in with long range curlers and hold onto the ball well as he showed today. He was our one bright light in the atrocity of 15/16. Was really happy when we kept him for the championshp....then he really didn't do much. Scored I think one goal but simply didn't have the impact I thought he would.

Seems his career has drifted since at Swansea and now Palace. He is nowhere near level even this Man. United need. Odd to think Andre Ayew was really hot for Swansea a few years ago and his career has really stalled in last 2 seasons.

 

[gerdm07]

He made no mistakes whereas pogba made a lot and did sod all else. The pogba love in on here is bizarre.

Early in the match James had the ball on the byline and in space, he rushed his cross and it did not get by the first defender. He could have taken a touch and watched the defense react and make a much more effective cross. That was one mistake.

He also had the ball taken from the dribble at least twice when he was on the left side. I'm also pretty sure he lost at least a couple of passes.

I'm a fan of James, but please don't say stupid things like "He made no mistakes." Furthermore, if you really believe Pogba did "sod all", well, that's just nuts.

 

[fergiesarmy1]

Early in the match James had the ball on the byline and in space, he rushed his cross and it did not get by the first defender. He could have taken a touch and watched the defense react and make a much more effective cross. That was one mistake.

He also had the ball taken from the dribble at least twice when he was on the left side. I'm also pretty sure he lost at least a couple of passes.

I'm a fan of James, but please don't say stupid things like "He made no mistakes." Furthermore, if you really believe Pogba did "sod all", well, that's just nuts.

Sod all in comparison to what is expected, does that help you freaks who love a player what wants out?

 

[Yagami]

Funny player, bit of an odd mentality at play. When he wants to play well he's a very good second striker, can chip in with long range curlers and hold onto the ball well as he showed today. He was our one bright light in the atrocity of 15/16. Was really happy when we kept him for the championshp....then he really didn't do much. Scored I think one goal but simply didn't have the impact I thought he would.

Seems his career has drifted since at Swansea and now Palace. He is nowhere near level even this Man. United need. Odd to think Andre Ayew was really hot for Swansea a few years ago and his career has really stalled in last 2 seasons.

Yeah, he probably isn't good enough, but we sorely lack players who can keep the ball under pressure and dribble. In attack, only Martial is somewhat decent at this.

Honestly, I'd be all for taking a punt on him. Our attack is that dire.

 

[bosnian_red]

Lingard who will turn 27 in a few months isn't young. Has been given the number 10 role which is meant to be main creator in the team. How many chances has he created so far this season? Pogba another that isn't young but at least he has the excuse of wanting out and has his mind elsewhere. Other midfielder is Mctominay who won the penalty today but his game or job isn't to create. From what i see we don't create near enough chances (clear cut ones) in games, 5 shots on target in total v Wolves and Palace we could well end creating 0 on target once we play one of the top teams as was the case v Barcelona at home a few months ago.

Rashford's game is erratic and has been that way for a few season now, I like most supporters hope he can finally find a good consistent level and reach his potential for now he shouldn't be allowed to take frees anymore as the majority of them go over the bar. Martial will blossom better and faster with more creativity in the team so far he hasn't got as many shots on goal as say lukaku was getting which suggests to me we are creating less clear cut chances than before. Hopefully the injury Martial got today doesn't mean he'll have to sit out the next couple of games.

Lingard is 27 true. Really didnt refer to Lingard when saying our team is young, because for that I referred to the majority of our main players and main hopes for the next few years. Lingard is just a standard run of the mill squad player who is a starter because of the system we play and the main alternatives to him are either past it (Mata) or not yet ready to have that starting role (Gomes). Just because he's the #10 doesn't mean hes the main creator. It's just where he plays. We put more emphasis of creating through Pogba while he just supports and links up.

Anyway, the point is shots on target, who gives a feck, that doesnt mean chances created. It can be a shot from 35 yards out trickling on target for an easy save, or a should be tap in that goes wide. That's a much better chance created, but the long shot is the one on target. Look at xG if you want to look at any stat that takes all that into account, because that's as close as there is to judging the quality of chances created. When it comes to that, we have been very good this season in these 3 games, and desperately unlucky. Which is true. 2 clear chances turned into pens that were missed and costed us in 2 games. That's it. That's driving this narrative now, 2 missed penalties. So people need to relax instead of going overboard after 3 games where the performances were decent overall.

 

[Zexstream]

I predicted we would finish 7th, Liverpool would win the league.

Todays results and performances only firm my horror that my prediction will come true.

 

[gerdm07]

Sod all in comparison to what is expected, does that help you freaks who love a player what wants out?

He is doing what I expect from a holding mid that doesn't have too much freedom. Yes, he loses the ball a bit too much in dangerous positions and I expect that to improve as OGS works with him.

He hasn't played the last 3 matches like a player who wants out. What should Pogba do when he sets up McT for a shot and McT passes up the shot and passes it back to Pogba? This is just one play but it shows why Pogba should be pretty frustrated.

I note you made no comments on "no mistake" James.

 

[fergiesarmy1]

He is doing what I expect from a holding mid that doesn't have too much freedom. Yes, he loses the ball a bit too much in dangerous positions and I expect that to improve as OGS works with him.

He hasn't played the last 3 matches like a player who wants out. What should Pogba do when he sets up McT for a shot and McT passes up the shot and passes it back to Pogba? This is just one play but it shows why Pogba should be pretty frustrated.

I note you made no comments on "no mistake" James.

How about the last 2 months of last season when he didn’t bother playing?

Don’t remember the James mistake you pedantic....

 

[reds_fan_aus]

Same old .. same old. It doesn't take a genius to work out that most opposition teams have worked out Ole's game plan and put in place tactics to stifle it. Why do we play this slow square passing game at the back and in front of the opposition box? With the supposed pace and skill we have with the front three, we should be moving the ball a lot quicker (as was demonstrated by the penalty and Jame's goal). It is also painfully obvious with Lingard on the field you are playing with one player less! Also, I believe Greenwood is a star of the future. But not a present. This is not the time for him to be sacrificed. If you're going to make a substitution, any substitution you expect that player to come on and make a difference and be involved. Sorry, both Greenwood and Mata were nowhere to be seen when they were needed. Someone should let Ole know pre-season is over. Sad to say - but its time to find an accomplished Manager. Ole and his team seem clueless. The results and performance of the teams last two outings prove it. You won't be getting me out of bed at 3:00am in the morning to watch that shyte. Especially if Young is playing!

 

[Code-CX]

I'm honestly no longer surprised with these types of results. I used to be livid when it happened with Moyes and LVG, now it's just apathy. It was absolutely crucial we made wholesale changes during the summer, but chinhead decided to muck about and actually managed to weaken us in midfield and attack.

Just look at our absolute joke of a squad today:

Starters:

• Mctominay: I don't care what anyone says, he'll never be good enough to be a starter for us. Sub at best.
• Shaw: Definition of a bang average player. Mediocre in attack and defence. Weirdly enough, he was a better player when he first joined us.
• Lingard: Fantastic player. No complaints here. Every time he follows the ball as it goes back to the goalkeeper, I get a stiffy.
• Lindelof: We can't depend on him. Has a good game here and there, then costs us badly with a brain-fart.

Just look at those four players. No one can tell me with a straight face that they would start for any big side in Europe. Somehow they do for us, regularly.

Subs:

• Mata: No longer has any legs and seems to have lost his ability to break the opposition. On the very rare occasion he actually does find a crucial pass, you can bet your ass our forwards are going to mess it up 70% of the time.
• Pereira: Why is he at this club? What does he do?
• Matic: Should have been sold this summer instead of Herrera or Fellaini. Leave it to Woodward to make the wrong decision every single time.
• Greenwoord: 17 year old who we've decided to put a world of unnecessary pressure on. What happens when we get our annual injury crisis? He may develop in to a good player in the future, but who in their right mind thought it would be okay to take this chance?

We've now gone in to the umpteenth season without a proper RW. How does no one at this club not see how much of a problem this is? How can we allow our right flank to be completely non-existent year after year? Our midfield has only one creative midfielder in Pogba. When he has an off-day or if he gets injured, you can kiss our ability to break the opposition goodbye. Pogba gets a lot of unfair stick on here when its the other cast surrounding him who should be scrutinized. There's a reason Juventus and Real Madrid went for him this summer and not players like Mctominay, Fred, and Matic. We have an obsession with berating our best players and waxing lyrical whenever the mediocre ones do the bare minimum a footballer should do.

I'm sure someone will reply to this post saying "hey it's fine our kids will do the job when asked". I have no qualms with this if our starting team was good enough to begin with. Gomes and Greenwood may be talented but there's no way any top club would put themselves in such position in the first place. Sentimentality seems to have blinded our fans, and it's just infuriating.

 

[gerdm07]

How about the last 2 months of last season when he didn’t bother playing?

Don’t remember the James mistake you pedantic....

You said James did not make a mistake and merely pointed out about 5 or 6.

I guess I'm a glass half full guy. I remember the brilliant Pogba during the Ole winning streak and I'm hoping Ole can get that from him all season. So far, Pogba has been very good and can improve with the right support.

 

[Marcus]

On hindsight we were very unlucky. Martial pulling up lame just we were attacking for a winner left us a man down when we conceded. This was the last in a series of unfortunate events. We go again.

 

[meninred]

I noticed that Martial and Pogba loose the ball more often than not. I am not confident yet on wan-bissaka. he seems he might be overrun.

 

[SambaBoy]

Our midfield is terrible. McTominay is a decent player and nothing more but they way it's going he's going to be one of our first choice midfielders. His passing isn't good or creative enough.

We need to play Pogba further forward or in a proper midfield 3, which makes sense as he's not as good from deep and we don't even have a proper number 10 to justify playing him deeper. Play a 3 man midfield.

Lingard needs to be dropped. I feel he can be good for us at times, but starting every week when he is producing nothing and ruining our attacks is mind boggling. If we are persistent to play with a number 10, then give someone else a go as they can't do much worse.

Continually said we needed two CB's in the summer. Granted we were never going to get two but the idea was that Lindelof isn't good enough to be a starter for Man Utd as he's terrible in the air. It's a massive weakness.

De Gea no longer has that aura about him and his form is worrying. Too many shots fired straight at him are getting through and teams will target that. He will have to carry on playing and hopefully come out the other side but it's been extended into a new season which is really worrying.

We are in trouble if Shaw is out for a period of time. Not that Shaw is a quality player but at least he's a proper LB and half decent. Playing Young there is just asking for trouble.

What does Mata provide when he comes on? Last two games, he's came on to provide 'some quality' and just gave the ball away needlessly.

 

[Feed Me]

Our midfield is terrible. McTominay is a decent player and nothing more but they way it's going he's going to be one of our first choice midfielders. His passing isn't good or creative enough.

We need to play Pogba further forward or in a proper midfield 3, which makes sense as he's not as good from deep and we don't even have a proper number 10 to justify playing him deeper. Play a 3 man midfield.

Lingard needs to be dropped. I feel he can be good for us at times, but starting every week when he is producing nothing and ruining our attacks is mind boggling. If we are persistent to play with a number 10, then give someone else a go as they can't do much worse.

Continually said we needed two CB's in the summer. Granted we were never going to get two but the idea was that Lindelof isn't good enough to be a starter for Man Utd as he's terrible in the air. It's a massive weakness.

De Gea no longer has that aura about him and his form is worrying. Too many shots fired straight at him are getting through and teams will target that. He will have to carry on playing and hopefully come out the other side but it's been extended into a new season which is really worrying.

We are in trouble if Shaw is out for a period of time. Not that Shaw is a quality player but at least he's a proper LB and half decent. Playing Young there is just asking for trouble.

What does Mata provide when he comes on? Last two games, he's came on to provide 'some quality' and just gave the ball away needlessly.

This is all absolutely spot on

Despite all the PR guff from pre season, there is still a worrying amount of work to do on the squad

 

[Sereques]

Last 16 games W3 D4 L9

Relegation form.

 

[Nevilles.Wear.Prada]

With all due respect, McT is a squad player.

he would never have got near the first team under Fergie.

Disagree.
he is still about the same level as cleverly.
he is so good because of his capability to maximize squad players impacting the game.

 

[JustW]

Am i the only one who think something is wrong when Shaw is the one who takes our corners ? Every teams have a proper crosser of the ball and deliver good balls on set pieces. I cannot even remember the last time we scored a goal from a corner even with all the big players we have. Lingard needs to be dropped for Andreas Pereira, he cant be worse than Lingard at number 10 role and at least he can cross the ball and plan the set pieces better than Shaw. I dont even get why he got dropped after the first game as he played better than Lingard and even got an assist.

 

[mav_9me]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

Breaking records since 2013.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

With all due respect, McT is a squad player.

he would never have got near the first team under Fergie.

He became Roy Keane reincarnate this summer. I have no idea why everybody seems to only care about heart and effort whereas technique and class seem very low on the priority scale.

He's that 4th choice CM who comes on and puts in a big shift.

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

Breaking records since 2013.

Feck me.

I was thinking today that I don't think we've ever conceded a goal that late to lose before at OT.

When does it end

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

He became Roy Keane reincarnate this summer. I have no idea why everybody seems to only care about heart and effort whereas technique and class seem very low on the priority scale.

He's that 4th choice CM who comes on and puts in a big shift.

Wouldn't even put him 4th choice.

He's just a taller Cleverley to me.

 

[mav_9me]

Feck me.

I was thinking today that I don't think we've ever conceded a goal that late to lose before at OT.

When does it end

Based on what we've seen with Liverpool, it's going to take a few years maybe 29 years as it's probably Liverpool's year this year.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Wouldn't even put him 4th choice.

He's just a taller Cleverley to me.

I mean, he's young and has some interesting qualities so I like these players give some chances. But I don't know how Ole has decided that he should be starting for us. Baffling.

 

[Alek M]

All records are meant to be broken

 

[captain666]

Most of our limited players are English talents. lingard, rashford, daniel James and mctominay. This might be why we struggle to create.

I think the Welshman and the Scotsman mentioned may take offence at being called English!

 

[Darkhorsez]

Our midfield is terrible. McTominay is a decent player and nothing more but they way it's going he's going to be one of our first choice midfielders. His passing isn't good or creative enough.

We need to play Pogba further forward or in a proper midfield 3, which makes sense as he's not as good from deep and we don't even have a proper number 10 to justify playing him deeper. Play a 3 man midfield.

Lingard needs to be dropped. I feel he can be good for us at times, but starting every week when he is producing nothing and ruining our attacks is mind boggling. If we are persistent to play with a number 10, then give someone else a go as they can't do much worse.

Continually said we needed two CB's in the summer. Granted we were never going to get two but the idea was that Lindelof isn't good enough to be a starter for Man Utd as he's terrible in the air. It's a massive weakness.

De Gea no longer has that aura about him and his form is worrying. Too many shots fired straight at him are getting through and teams will target that. He will have to carry on playing and hopefully come out the other side but it's been extended into a new season which is really worrying.

We are in trouble if Shaw is out for a period of time. Not that Shaw is a quality player but at least he's a proper LB and half decent. Playing Young there is just asking for trouble.

What does Mata provide when he comes on? Last two games, he's came on to provide 'some quality' and just gave the ball away needlessly.

I am sorry to say that I agree totally with your take. We have a long road ahead of us still and the hurt continues. As a side note, not that I don’t like Lindelof, but I found it laughable that everyone had pencilled in him and a Harry in as our new CB pairing all summer! I guess RedCafe performance is mirroring our team’s since 2013.

 

[kundalini]

Very disappointing loss

- yet more concerns about De Gea. Positioning was evidently wrong for the first goal and I'd expect him to use his feet to save the 2nd.

- Lindelof should have won the initial header, no idea what Maguire and Wan-Bissaka were doing, failing to provide cover

- Martial continues to impress me with his CF play. Unlucky not to win a pen himself, and nice touch to McTominay for pen we did get

- Frustrating performance from Rashford. He could have won the match on his own.

- Some patterns of play are promising, other times we look clueless

- Super finish from Dan James. Could have scored in the first half had he been more aware of positioning of defender and keeper. Yet to create much for others.

- Lingard seems to be a key player in the system due to his pressing, yet unable to provide any quality in the final third. In other matches he was involved in moves that produced goals.

- Surprised that Greenwood had so little impact in that situation.

Overall, I think we should stick with a young team for the whole PL season, try to establish a better understanding between the players. If any of Greenwood, Gomes and Chong perform well in the Europa League, then I'd be willing to give them starts in the PL.

We have a lot of players who need to improve. That includes our relatively expensive new right-back developing the attacking side of his game, and our cheaper winger becoming more aware of what other players are doing in the final third. If they can't improve, then we will need to find someone else.

 

[captain666]

Well that game has shattered my optimism for the season even before September!
We don't seem to have a first team player capable of taking a free kick,corner or penalty.Why?It's the fecking basics that we seem unable to master.
No more Lingard please,bench at best.Pointless throwing more kids in to be surrounded by dross,play more kids by all means but drop the dross!
Soton next week is already looking ominous,another defeat and our fragile confidence will be gone.

 

[theklr]

Overraction here as usual.

 

[DevilRed]

Horrible result coupled with a flat first half performance.

Seems the confidence has gone once again and this team can't handle when teams sit back against them.

The effort is there, but the execution is lacking.

Felt we were a bit unlucky yet again with a missed penalty and countless excellent freekick positions wasted. Set piece delivery has been atrocious.

We just need to sort it out. Get an easy goal. Sometimes these young lads think they always need to score a worldie when all is required is a tap in or scrappy header from a corner to give you a platform to win the game.

Thats something we're missing from Rashford and Martial. These two are too focused making the perfect touch or receiving the ball to feet. They just need to get in the box and/or deliver a good accurate ball that causes defences to turn.

 

[reddevil80]

Last 16 games W3 D4 L9

Reads almost like his Cardiff record.

I'm not targetting him yet, season is still early but thise stat's are shocking

 

[Giggsy9099]

Work in Digress...

 

[Houdini]

I'm honestly no longer surprised with these types of results. I used to be livid when it happened with Moyes and LVG, now it's just apathy. It was absolutely crucial we made wholesale changes during the summer, but chinhead decided to muck about and actually managed to weaken us in midfield and attack.

Just look at our absolute joke of a squad today:

Starters:

• Mctominay: I don't care what anyone says, he'll never be good enough to be a starter for us. Sub at best.
• Shaw: Definition of a bang average player. Mediocre in attack and defence. Weirdly enough, he was a better player when he first joined us.
• Lingard: Fantastic player. No complaints here. Every time he follows the ball as it goes back to the goalkeeper, I get a stiffy.
• Lindelof: We can't depend on him. Has a good game here and there, then costs us badly with a brain-fart.

Just look at those four players. No one can tell me with a straight face that they would start for any big side in Europe. Somehow they do for us, regularly.

Subs:

• Mata: No longer has any legs and seems to have lost his ability to break the opposition. On the very rare occasion he actually does find a crucial pass, you can bet your ass our forwards are going to mess it up 70% of the time.
• Pereira: Why is he at this club? What does he do?
• Matic: Should have been sold this summer instead of Herrera or Fellaini. Leave it to Woodward to make the wrong decision every single time.
• Greenwoord: 17 year old who we've decided to put a world of unnecessary pressure on. What happens when we get our annual injury crisis? He may develop in to a good player in the future, but who in their right mind thought it would be okay to take this chance?

We've now gone in to the umpteenth season without a proper RW. How does no one at this club not see how much of a problem this is? How can we allow our right flank to be completely non-existent year after year? Our midfield has only one creative midfielder in Pogba. When he has an off-day or if he gets injured, you can kiss our ability to break the opposition goodbye. Pogba gets a lot of unfair stick on here when its the other cast surrounding him who should be scrutinized. There's a reason Juventus and Real Madrid went for him this summer and not players like Mctominay, Fred, and Matic. We have an obsession with berating our best players and waxing lyrical whenever the mediocre ones do the bare minimum a footballer should do.

I'm sure someone will reply to this post saying "hey it's fine our kids will do the job when asked". I have no qualms with this if our starting team was good enough to begin with. Gomes and Greenwood may be talented but there's no way any top club would put themselves in such position in the first place. Sentimentality seems to have blinded our fans, and it's just infuriating.

It is clear that our transfer window was bad. We need CM RW and striker, also cover for Shaw (or an upgrade, Shaw is always injured anyway).